Islamabad: Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed has opened a JuD election office in the political vicinity of Lahore’s NA-120 constituency.
Saeed confirmed that JuD would contest the 2018 general elections under the banner of the Milli Muslim League (MML). Senior officials of police said the MML had earlier contested in the same constituency.
“We did not provide him security as JuD is a banned organisation,” a senior police officer said.
The government has requested a court in Islamabad not to consider MML’s plea seeking its registration as a political party, saying the group would breed violence and extremism in politics.
The interior ministry made it clear that the state will not allow mainstreaming of jihad outfits.
The NA-120 seat fell vacant because of the disqualification of former PM Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case.
Saeed said India was forcing Pakistan to abandon the Kashmir cause. “This is the right time to enter politics to persuade the world by establishing an independent foreign desk to highlight the Kashmir cause,” he said.
